Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2007, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 94.1 gigawatts. Although wind currently produces just over 1% of world-wide electricity use, it accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland (2007 data). Globally, wind power generation increased more than fivefold between 2000 and 2007.
Wind power is produced in large scale wind farms connected to electrical grids, as well as in individual turbines for providing electricity to isolated locations. Wind turbines typically have 2 to 4 large blades and are designed to last around 20 to 25 years. The optimum number of blades for a wind turbine depends on the job the turbine will do. Turbines for generating electricity need to operate at high speeds, but do not need much torque or turning force. These machines generally have two or three blades. Wind pumps, in contrast, operate with more torque but not much speed and therefore have many blades.
Wind turbine blades are constantly exposed to the elements and must be designed to endure temperature extremes, wind shears, precipitation, and other environmental hazards without failure. Build-up of ice on the blade substrate leads to lower efficiencies as the blades become heavier and harder to turn.
It would be desirable to provide a method of mitigating ice build-up to protect wind and turbine blades and maximize the efficiency of the blades in extreme weather. Ideally, coating compositions could be applied to blade substrates.